How to Train Your Whispering Death
by Dingo230
Summary: Adopted from Ugly-Duckling123. What would happen if Hiccup trained a Whispering Death instead of Toothless' First 10 Chapters are originally Ugly-Duckling123's chapters - I've just continued story.
1. Getting Started

In times of old, when Viking's ruled the land and Dragons ruled the sky, one village and tribe in particular, were not so lucky than their neighbouring clans.

The Hairy Hooligans of Berk had enough trouble fighting off Dragon Raids every other night.

They had to put up with, Deadly Nadders, Gronkles, Hideous Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares, and one of the more dangerous type of dragons... Whispering Deaths.

What makes these dragons more dangerous than the others is that they hunt from underground so you'll never know when it will attack until you hear the 'Whisper' of its spines helping it to see in the dark.

Another thing they had to put up with, sadly, was the Chief's son Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, who... was not really your average Viking in the size or strength category, and always gets in the way - his inventions don't help either - and therefore he was not that high on the likable list of the village.

Almost every Raid, Hiccup would try and prove himself worthy of having his title of Heir of the Tribe... And almost every Raid ended with the Vikings loosing because of him needing to be saving or knocking over a Torch-Pole and the dragons getting away with their livestock.

After eight years of this happening, Stoick the Vast, the Chief of the Tribe, had had enough and asked his fifteen year old son, after the most recent Raid, the question he kept asking himself, with the whole town there to get the answer too.

"Why can't you just follow the simplest of orders?"

"I can't stop myself," Hiccup said defending himself "I see a dragon and I have to just... kill it. You know, it's who I am Dad."

"You are many things Hiccup," Stoick said sighing and massaging his head a bit. "But a Dragon Killer is not one of them. Get back to the house. Make sure he gets there..." he said looking towards the village's blacksmith and his best friend Gobber the Belch. "I have his mess to clean up."

Slowly Hiccup and Gobber made the lone walk back to the Chief's house that was on top of the highest hill passing the teenagers who had watch the whole thing.

"Quite a performance," Tuffnut the male of the Thorsten Twins said while his sister Ruffnut laughed.

"I never saw anyone mess up so badly... That helped," Snotlout, his cousin, said gesturing to where he was just standing talking to his father.

"Thank you, thank you I was trying so..." Hiccup said sarcastically trying to avoid the eyes of Astrid Hofferson, the most skilled and beautiful, in his opinion, girl of their generation.

o0o

As Hiccup and Gobber ascended the hill to get to the house Hiccup began to let his mind speak. He could always do that around Gobber. He was the only one who ever listened or treated him with respect.

"Why can't he just give me a chance?" he asked not caring if Gobber answered "If he'd let me I'm sure I can kill a dragon but he never listens."

"Ah runs in the family," Gobber said saying he was listening.

"And when he does it's always with this disappointed scowl, like someone stepped in the meat in his sandwich," Hiccup said then puffing out his chest and deepening his voice to mimic Stoick.

"Excuse me barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong offspring. I ordered an extra-large boy with beefy arms, extra guts and glory on the side. This here... This is a talking fish bone."

"Now you're thinking about this all wrong," Gobber said "It's not so much what you look like. It's what's Inside that he can't stand."

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said turning to the door.

"Look, the point is. Stop being so hard to be something you're not," the blacksmith said kindly.

"I just want to be one of you guys," Hiccup said going in the front door, then to Gobber's unknowing right out the back to see if he could get rid of this feeling of shame in the forest, like he usually does after things like this.

He had no knowledge that today's visit, would change his life... Forever...


	2. Meeting His New Friend

In the forests of Berk, Hiccup felt safe. Well safer than he did in the village, because in the forest there was hardly ever anything or anybody in there with him to make fun of him, or push him over, or blame him for things he didn't do.

Years ago when Hiccup had first come in here after a Dragon Raid that ended with a quarter of the town's people needed to be seen by Gothi - the Village elder/healer, Hiccup had tied strips of his shirt to the trees to help him find his way back out should he ever get lost.

But after years and years of following the same path, he didn't need them anymore - his feet knew the way, he just kept them there just in case.

Hiccup was just muttering to himself on how his dad never listened to him one more time when he began to hear a sound that sent shivers up his spine.

It was a mix between nails on a chalkboard and the wind blowing through the trees.

"The Whisper," Hiccup said opening his eyes wide, and looking around, staying as still as he possibly can.

Suddenly, no more than ten feet in front of him the most deadliest dragon known to Viking kind burst out of the earth and began looking around sniffing the air as if it was looking for something.

Hiccup gasped when it turned and he saw it had a pretty bad bite mark on its neck.

Hiccup stayed still, not sure if it was because he was scared, or if it was his instincts telling him to do so, watching the thing eyes wide.

After a bit the clouds began to part and the sun's rays shone through touching the Whispering Death's scales.

Letting out a roar in pain, the Whispering Death buried itself back into the ground.

Quickly Hiccup ran for the hole and looked down. Not sure if he should do this, Hiccup looked around to see if anyone was there and jumped in.

'This could be my chance to prove myself...' his head told him, while his heart said 'It might be a dragon, but it's still hurt...'

"Whoa..." Hiccup said looking at all the tunnels, never knowing that this thing was actually living here it seemed.

Picking the first side tunnel he came across, Hiccup began his quest on hunting the Whispering Death ears always open for the Whisper and eyes looking all around.

o0o

"How can it see down here?" Hiccup asked himself after a bit, after bumping into his fifth dead end. "And how can it find its way around?"

Hiccup had been taking straight lines (technically) always marking where he went if there was more than one tunnel, so he could find his way back.

After what seemed a couple of hours, he was making his way back to the entrance, when he was cut off by the Whispering Death.

Freezing in fright, Hiccup looked into the almost clouded eyes of the dragon.

Raising up to strike at the intruder the Whispering Death opened its maw wide and was about to strike, when Hiccup's dagger reflected the sunlight that was peaking in through the cracks in the ceiling and shone into its eyes.

Howling in pain the Whispering Death took a side tunnel to get to the prey, meaning the path was clear for Hiccup to get to. The problem was... he wasn't tall enough, or had enough power in his legs to get out.

Then he began to hear the Whisper.

Gasping Hiccup looked around and saw a dust storm, filled with rocks and extracts of tree roots coming his way.

Using his arms to cover his face and closing his eyes, Hiccup felt himself be lifted up into the air, being almost spat out of the hole and after a bit of time falling, landing hard on the ground making him cough a bit.

Opening his eyes carefully Hiccup looked up to see the Whispering Death glaring at him before it dove back in to the ground.

"Note to self... Whispering Deaths don't like people in their holes..." Hiccup said getting up and began to head back to the village before his knees buckled and he fainted.


	3. Dragon Training

It was nearing sunset when Hiccup woke back up.

Looking around he was confused at first to find himself in the forest. Then he found the Whispering Death's hole and it all came back.

"Oh... Yeah..." he said getting up and began heading home hoping that his dad would be so distracted with his next Nest Search or complaining about him, that he didn't see him or ask where he's been - not like he ever did that anyway.

If Hiccup wasn't the Chief's son/there was someone other than Snotlout as backup heir, and he had enough money, he would of left Berk years ago.

Hiccup got to wondering as his feet began taking him down the path, 'Why didn't he attack the Whispering Death?' Was it because as Snotlout and everyone else said he was just too useless to do so?

Or was it because of something else? Something to do with that bite-mark he saw the dragon had?

"Well... I never did like seeing things get hurt..." he answered himself after a bit.

Being on his own for so long, had let him grow a council of emotions and personality's in his head and they needed to talk things out like this whenever stuff like this happened.

"But you're a Viking," Hiccup said mimicking his dad's voice "It's an occupational hazard son..."

"Well then maybe I'm not a Viking at all then Dad..." Hiccup said as he came to the boundaries of the forest and he saw his house.

"Well might as well see if he'll notice me tonight," he said dusting himself off a bit before going in.

o0o

"Well... that went well..." Hiccup said to himself dropping the axe.

For the first time in forever, Stoick noticed when Hiccup came home and he wanted to talk to him.

"I knew I should have gone first," Hiccup said as he made up to bed.

"They why didn't you?" he asked in a different voice.

"Because he's the Chief, and my dad, and it's not like he would have heard me anyway." Hiccup answered kicking off his boots and pouring out all the dust, dirt and stones from them.

After all the pieces of the forest were out of his boots and they were back on his feet Hiccup got to thinking about why that dragon didn't attack - or rather kill, him.

All his life, he had been told that dragons 'Always go for the kill' and yet the most deadliest one let him go.

'Maybe it's because you're too useless even for him...' Hiccup could hear Snotlout say.

"I am not useless..." Hiccup said clutching his fists and eyes to stop tears falling - A Chief feels no pain, his dad taught him, and if he was going to be Chief someday, he might as well begin how to do so now.

He had already been doing it for eight years.

Then he remembered something Gothi told (well scribbled) him once.

'Strong men don't cry, but stronger men know it's alright to do so...' Following the elder's advice, Hiccup decided to let it all out tonight, so in the morning there would be nothing left.

"Welcome to Dragon Training..." Gobber said lifting the gate to the inner arena.

"No turning back..." Astrid said leading the group of teenagers in.

"Well then how are we meant to leave then?" Hiccup thought rolling his eyes not listening to the Twins, but caught Astrid's 'It's only fun if you get a scare out of it.'

"Yeah no kidding right?" he said sarcastically "Pain. Love it."

"Aww great," Tuffnut said "Who let him in?" he asked getting nods of agreement from the others.

"Let's get started," Gobber said coming over "Now the recruit that does best, will win the honour of killing his first dragon in front of the whole village."

"What honour?" Hiccup whispered not looking at anyone in particular, blocking out his ears to their jokes about him.

Seeing his apprentice looked upset Gobber went over to the boy and gave him some words of advice.

"Now don't worry Hiccup," he said "You're small and weak. That will make you less of a target. They'll think of you as sick or insane and go after the more Viking like kids instead."

'Told you that you weren't a Viking...' one of Hiccup's inner voices said.

After that, and the kids had lined up, the blacksmith continued walking to the door speaking to the whole class now.

"Behind these doors are just a few of the many beasts you'll learn to fight," he said smiling. "The Deadly Nadder..."

"Speed 8 Armour 16," Hiccup heard Fishlegs who was next to him say.

"The Hideous Zippleback,"

"11 Stealth Times 2"

"The Monstrous Nightmare,"

"Firepower 15"

"The Terrible Terror"

"Attack 8 Venom 12"

"WILL YOU STOP THAT?!" Gobber cried to the boy then taken a deep breath to calm himself said pressing down on a leaver next to the cage "And... The Gronkle."

"Jaw strength 8," Fishlegs whispered to Hiccup, who didn't really care.

"Whoa, whoa, wait. Aren't you gonna teach us first?" Snotlout asked a bit panicky.

"I believe on learning on the job" Hiccup thought getting ready to run.

"I believe on learning on the job," Gobber said grinning opening the door.

Suddenly the Gronkle was out and buzzing around the arena deciding who to go for first.

"Today is about Survival. If you get blasted, you're dead." Gobber said to the class "Quick! What's the first thing you're going to need?" he asked.

"A doctor?" Hiccup said slightly sarcastically eyes on the dragon.

"Plus 5 speed?" Fishlegs asked running away.

"A shield!" Astrid said firmly like it was obvious.

"Shield go!" Gobber said pointing to the shields. "The most important piece of equipment is your shield," Gobber said as the students rushed to the round wooden discs.

"If you must make a choice between a sword or a shield, take the shield." he added helping Hiccup with his one then turning back to the dragon, seeing it fire its first shot at the Twins who were fighting over a shield even though there were loads still to choose from.

"Tuffnut, Ruffnut, you're out," he said.

"What?" they said together looking confused.

"Those shields a good for another thing. Noise," Gobber said proudly. "Make lots of it to through off a dragons aim."

With that everyone who was left began hitting their weapons on their shields making the dragon shake its head to try and get the noise to go away.

"All dragons have a limited number of shots," he continued after the teens had stopped banging their shields. "How many does a Gronkle have?"

"Five?" Snotlout asked running across the arena.

"No six!" Fishlegs said stopping to answer the question.

"Correct six," Gobber said "That's one for each of you."

Just then the Gronkle shot her second blast at Fishlegs' shield.

"Fishlegs out," Gobber said getting a scream from the boy who immediately came running to join him and the Twins.

"Hiccup! Get in there," Gobber said to the boy who was hiding behind a weapons rack.

Doing what he was told Hiccup began to come out of his hiding place when a shot hit the wall right next to him, making him go back.

The Gronkle then looked around and spotted the other two teens and began to fly over to them.

"So anyway I've moved into my parents basement," Snotlout began tell Astrid who wasn't listening. "You should come by sometime to work out," he said as she rolled away, not paying attention. "You look like you work out."

Suddenly he was also hit by a blast from the dragon.

"Snotlout, you're done." Gobber said.

Astrid ended up next to Hiccup who had finally come out.

"So I guess it's just you and me huh?" he asked smiling.

"Nope," she replied "Just you," with that Astrid ran off leaving Hiccup standing there, to get his shield blasted out of his hand.

"One shot left," Gobber said as Hiccup went for his shield and Astrid was getting ready to attack the beast should it come to her.

But it was going for the boy.

"Turns out you were wrong Gobber..." Hiccup mumbled annoyed.

"HICCUP!"

Tripping up, Hiccup was now pressed against the wall the Gronkle pinning him there getting mad that this weak looking hatchling could even imagine that he could stop her, she ignited her last shot getting ready to fire.

Suddenly Gobber's hook made it aim for something else just as it fired, singeing the wall.

"And that's six," he said pulling the dragon back to its cage. "Go back to bed you over grown sausage. You'll get another chance don't you worry." he told the beast.

"Remember... A dragon will always," he said to the class then pointing to Hiccup "Always... Go for the kill." he said helping the boy up.

With that, everyone left leaving Hiccup to stare at the wall, and then around the arena seeing all the marks of left over fights.

Thinking about that Whispering Death again he rushed back to the woods.

When he got to the hole Hiccup tied a length of rope he had brought with him, to a sturdy tree and lowered it and himself into the hole, making sure to cover up his dagger and that he had a bag of medical supplies, just in case he got hurt, or the Whispering Death let him see that bite-mark.

Following the same path as yesterday, Hiccup got one and a half tunnels deeper when he heard the sound of something slithering coming his way.

Ducking into a side tunnel that didn't look like it was used that often, Hiccup waited in silence gasping silently when it came to a halt right before him down the tunnel.

Slowly, and carefully Hiccup looked down to the lump under his jacket that was his dagger.

'Go on son...' he could hear his father saying 'Go on. It's just there... Kill it... Make me proud of you boy... Be the Viking Chief you are born to be...'

'NO!'

Inner Hiccup cried out, shutting the voice of his dad up, shaking his head and looking back to the Whispering Death, only to see it had moved on. Only it seemed to be moving slower and less coordinated than last time, almost bumping into the side of the tunnel.

Slowly stepping out of the side tunnel Hiccup watched as it went on its way.

Deciding it was time to go, Hiccup made his way back out, pulling up the rope after he was back up too, hiding it inside a hallowed out tree, before making it back home to drop off his things before heading to dinner.


	4. The Book of Dragons

"Where did Astrid go wrong in the ring today?" Hiccup heard Gobber over the roar of thunder and rain that was coming down on him as he entered the great hall.

"I miss timed my summer-salt dive," Astrid answered almost in monotone. "It was sloppy, it threw off my reverse tumble."

"Yeah we noticed," Ruffnut said as if not caring.

"No, no you were great. No that was so Astrid..." Snotlout said taking Astrid's hand and patting it in sympathy which she quickly shook off.

"She's right you have to be tough on yourselves," Gobber said, proud of the Hofferson girl.

All the while Hiccup was making his way over to the tables where they were sitting hoping he'd make it without being noticed until...

"Where did Hiccup go wrong?" Gobber asked.

"He showed up?" Ruffnut suggested.

"He didn't get eaten?" Tuffnut said sadness in his voice.

"He's never where he should be..." Astrid said having the last word as Hiccup went to the next table and sat down.

"Thank you Astrid," Gobber said, being grateful at least one of his students knew how to behave. "You need to live and breathe this stuff," he said pulling out an old worn book and dropping it on the table.

"The Dragon Manual. Everything we know about every dragon we know of..." he said looking around then to the roof hearing the thunder and the rain. "No attacks tonight. Study up." he said before walking away.

"Wait? You mean read?" Tuffnut asked shocked.

"While we're still alive?" Ruffnut asked looking almost disgusted.

"Why read words, when you can kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?" Snotlout complained.

"Oh I've read it like seven times," Fishlegs said excited "This this water type dragon that squirts boiling water at your face. And this other one that has a roar so loud that it can..."

"Yeah great there was a chance I was going to read that..." Tuffnut said stopping his friend.

"But now..." Ruff said dragging the word on a bit.

"You guys read, I'll go kill stuff," Snotlout said before getting up and running away followed by everyone else but Astrid and Hiccup.

"So I guess we'll share?" Hiccup said cheerfully smiling kindly.

"Read it." she answered pushing the book towards him before leaving.

"All... all mine then?" he asked just to be sure "Well ok so I guess I'll see you..." 'SLAM' "Tomorrow..."

o0o

After drying off a bit more, and having dinner, Hiccup found a few candles and sat down to read the book.

"Dragon classifications, Strike Class, Fear Class, Mystery Class," he began.

"Thunderdrum: This reclusive sea-dragon inhabits sea-caves and dark tide pools. When startled a Thunderdrum can produce a sound that can kill a man at close range. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.

Timberjack: The dragon has razor sharp wings that it can use to slice through full grown trees. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight.

Scauldron: Sprays scalding hot water into the faces of its victims. Extremely dangerous." 'CRASH!' a clap of thunder sounded making Hiccup jump and look around before returning to the book.

"Changewing: Even newly hatches dragons can spray acid. Kill on sight.

Gronkle, Zippleback, the Skrill, Boneknapper... Burns its victims buries its victims, chokes its victims, turns it victims inside out. Extremely dangerous. Extremely dangerous. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. Kill on sight. The Whispering Death..." finally getting to the dragon he wanted, Hiccup lent in a bit more.

"Boulder Class, incredibly strong, hunts from underground," he began reading the notes. "Can shoot razor sharp spines at will from any part of its body, has rotating teeth that can discard dirt and tree root like it's not even there. Weakness' Unknown."

Leaning back, Hiccup thought back to how the dragon reacted the day before when the light reflected off his dagger and on to its body.

Taking his dagger out, Hiccup wondered even more and decided to visit the dragon again...

'CRASH!'

But maybe tomorrow...


	5. Helping a Friend

"Is this some sort of a joke to you?" Astrid asked/yelled to Hiccup who was curled up on the floor in a fiddle position.

He had got into that position after Astrid ripped his shield off his arm and whacked the Nadder around the head with it.

Today's exercise was about Attack. But Hiccup was distracted because he was thinking about the Whispering Death more than the lesson.

"Our parents war, is about to become ours. Figure out which side you're on."

With that, she and the others left, everyone congratulating her on how she handled the dragon and (once again) laughing at how Hiccup was, and calling him 'Useless'.

After getting up and helping Gobber pack up the arena, or rather keeping the man company, Hiccup went back to his house, got the first aid kit and survival gear again, then went to the piers selecting a fish before heading for the forest.

This time he was going to help that dragon, whether it liked him in its hole or not...

(*)(*)(*)

After using the rope like last time, Hiccup was in the tunnels and began going down the more darker ones, hoping his hunch was right about the sunlight, nearly slipping on how muddy it was thanks to last night's storm.

After a few hours, Hiccup was about to give up when he began to hear the Whisper, but it sounded weak...

Not weak as in it was far away, but weak as in something was wrong.

Picking up speed while still being careful Hiccup followed it and found the dragon stuck under a few rocks and tree roots that came from the tunnel collapsing further on and the debris flowing down into this one.

Holding his breath, Hiccup began to move forward being as stealthy as possible freezing as it turned its head to him looking all over the place but not focusing on him.

'Is it blind?' Hiccup asked himself curiously. 'Makes sense . It's so dark down here you don't really need them.'

Looking down at his feet wondering if this was going to be a good idea, Hiccup began stomping his foot, looking up to the dragon who turned and focused on him now.

Once he got its attention, while still making some noise, to guide it to him, Hiccup held up the fish.

Leaning forward, following the sound, the Whispering Death used its echo-location spines to pick out a shape of a small two-legged boy what was holding something out to him.

Focusing on that, the Whispering Death made out it was food.

Opening its mouth, the Whispering Death waited, within seconds tasting the fish in his mouth, and hearing the boy move slowly to the rocks hearing him try and move them, always making noise to tell him where it was.

"Ok, let's try and look at that bite-mark first," Hiccup said quietly slowly reaching out to the Whispering Death's neck gasping and ducking when spines shot out at him.

"Ok I know you might not want me to touch it..." he said soothingly still making some noise "But I'll try and be gentle, and the sooner I look at it, the sooner it will be better..."

Not understand the boy's language but trusting him enough to let him look at what that Night Fury did to him, the Whispering Death laid still.

Not believing that that worked, Hiccup got out the first aid kit and a candle to help him see a bit more hoping that the dragon wouldn't mind, and got to work cleaning and dressing the wound, foot still tapping.

After a bit Hiccup stepped away and got to work on the other bits of the collapsed tunnel holding the dragon down, checking under each one and aiding the wounds he found.

At long last the Whispering Death was free and Hiccup returned to the head slowly stopping making the noise and reaching out his hand again.

Using its echo-location again, the Whispering Death, found the now silent boy in front of him his paw held out to his face.

Not sure what it wanted at first, the Whispering Death didn't do anything and focused on the paw. Slowly and carefully because of the injury's it moved forward and touched it's nose against it.

Before shaking its head and moving on as fast as it could to get away from the boy.

After watching the dragon take off like that, Hiccup took the candle and made for the entrance again, not noticing now dark it was getting, meaning it was close to dinner.

After making it of the hole and again hiding the rope, Hiccup blew out the candle and after taking the stuff back home began heading for the watchtower where the Dragon Training recruits would be having dinner.

(*)(*)(*)

"And with one twist it grabbed my hand and swallowed it whole," Gobber said dramatically hooding up is fake limb which at this point held a chicken on it "And I saw the look on his face. I was delicious. He must of past the word because it wasn't week before another one of them took my leg."

"Isn't it weird to think your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs asked speaking his mind "Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could defeat the dragon from the inside by destroying its heart or something?"

"Hey Gobber?" Hiccup spoke up getting everyone to look to him. "Out of curiosity, when, meaning the time of day, did these dragons attack you?"

"Why you ought to know the answer to that Hiccup," Gobber said proud that someone was curios "It the one I always used to tell you when your dad was too busy at the hall to see you to bed."

"Yeah but I was too young to remember, wasn't I?" Hiccup said defending himself not wanting to tell his teacher that he always kept either falling asleep or stopped paying attention halfway through.

"Well then to answer the question boy I lost me hand sometime in the early morning," Gobber said waving the chicken again "And me leg sometime just after midday."

"I swear I'm so angry right now," Snotlout said narrowing his eyes to his chicken "I'll avenge your beautiful hand and your beautiful foot. I'll chop of all the legs off of every dragon I find. With my face."

While Gobber was explaining about tails and wings, Hiccup got to thinking.

The Whispering Death didn't like sunlight, hence why it stayed underground all the time.

But what does it do when the sun goes away? Tomorrow night he'd find out. But not tonight, so not to arouse any suspicions.


	6. Gaining Trust and Wolf Attack

After a long day of getting things ready for that night - Gobber had gotten a big order on weapons too advanced for Hiccup to do meaning the training that day was cancelled... Hiccup was as the sun was setting hulling a basket of fish into the woods towards the Whispering Death's hole.

But this time did not go down it, and instead waited to see if his theory about it being a night-dragon was right.

After the sun was fully gone, and Hiccup had made himself a small fire to keep warm, he began to hear the Whisper and heard it coming closer to the entrance of the tunnel.

Finally the dragon burst out of the ground and began to look around its spines flexing gathering the surroundings.

Quickly but carefully, Hiccup got up and began tapping his foot on the ground, just like he did yesterday, this getting the Whispering Deaths attention.

"Hey Will... (Will O' the Wisp - Whispering Death) I brought you some fish today," he said going over to the basket and knocking it over then moving away from it so Will could reach it.

"Ok... That's disgusting..." Hiccup said his foot stopping because he was talking "Ok there's some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel..."

As soon as Hiccup said that Will backed off and hissed at the pile.

Confused as to what was wrong, Hiccup moved forward and picked up the eel, his foot beginning to tap again.

Turning his head to where the noise was coming from, Will began flexing his spines and in his mind saw that eel the boy spoke of so close to himself making him hiss and zoom backwards.

"No! No! Ok..." Hiccup said throwing the eel away "Yeah I don't really like eel much either, but it's gone now."

Slowly Will came forwards again and began sniffing as well as flexing his spines, making doubly sure that what the boy said was right before he began to tuck in.

Smiling that the dragon was happy Hiccup went over to the fire and began observing the beast before him his foot always tapping. Never really being this close to any dragon at night before, without them trying to roast him alive.

Taking out his journal and pencil, Hiccup began to make some sketches and all the new discovery's he had found thanks to this dragon.

o0o

Over by the fish, Will looked up when he heard the sound of something else over where the boy was.

Curious, but trusting the boy that it wasn't anything bad he just ignored it and continued eating.

Then there was a loud 'HOOOWWL!' coming from further in the forest and both sound the boy was making stopped but a new one of panicked breaths started.

o0o

"Oh why do the gods hate me...?" Hiccup said in a hushed voice as he looked around himself not seeing very much beyond the fire light. And then he heard the huffs and puffs of the wolves' breaths.

Not sure either to stay or run, Hiccup was frozen in fear.

Suddenly just as he saw the first wolf coming to charge at him he was surrounded in a world of black and all he could hear was fighting, roars, hisses, yelps, and whimpering as the wolves ran away.

After about ten seconds Will undid himself from Hiccup and began sniffing him to see if he was alright.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm alright Will," Hiccup said reaching out his rand to stroke the dragon amazed that it did that. "Thanks," he said looking over the dragon to see if he was still alright, seeing some new scars and that the old ones needed changing even though they were only put on yesterday - Well he has been playing in the dirt for all that time hasn't he? Hiccup told himself.

Going over to his bag Hiccup got out a new roll of bandages and began unwrapping the old ones and replacing them as well as adding some to the new scars and scratches.

When he was done, Hiccup packed everything up and doused the fire.

"Well I guess I should be heading back home before they come back." he said taking the eel and the basket. "See you tomorrow Will..."

And with that he left and Will returned to his tunnels.


	7. The Hideous Zippleback

"Today is about Teamwork," Gobber said off to the side as the arena got coated in the stuff. "Work together and you might just live..."

"Now a wet dragon head can't light its fire..." he continued." The Hideous Zippleback, is extra tricky. One head breaths gas, the other head lights it. Your job it to know which is which..."

Hiccup looked around trying to find the dragon but all he could see was smoke putting him on the edge. It didn't help that he didn't get a lot of sleep last night after coming back home because his mind was having a 'mind meeting', nor that Fishlegs was reciting 'fun facts' about the Zippleback'.

"Razor sharp serrated teeth that inject venom for pre-digestion," he began spinning around with Hiccup. "Before its ambush attack of crushing its victims..."

"WILL YOU PLEASE STOP THAT?!" Hiccup scream-whispered an almost never seen angry look on his face.

Over to the right he heard Snotlout say "If that dragon shows either of its faces... There!"

To the left both girls screamed in surprise.

"Hey it's us idiots," Ruffnut said annoyed.

"Your butts are getting bigger, we thought you were a dragon," Tuffnut said mockingly.

"Not that there's anything wrong, with a dragon-ess figure..." Snotlout's loud voice said only to be cut off by what sounded to be a punch to the face.

And Tuffnut sounding like he was hit with a bucket and then suddenly screaming, making Hiccup grip his bucket a bit more.

After a few seconds the girls screamed as if they had fallen over and then Tuffnut came running out screaming "AGHHH OH, OH I AM HURT! I AM VERY MUCH HURT!"

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now..." Fishlegs said, him and Hiccup the only two left with buckets of water.

Then from out of the smoke came one of the Zippleback's heads coming forwards sniffing, inspecting Fishlegs who quickly threw his water onto the head.

Only for it to be the gas head.

"Oh..." he said with a nervous smile "Wrong head..."

"FISHLEGS!" Gobber called as the gas head let out as much gas as it could, sending the boy running towards the others, leaving Hiccup all on his own.

As soon as he was taken care of the gas head and now the spark head, came together to inspect the last one standing.

"Now Hiccup!" Gobber's voice called out to the boy.

With all his might, Hiccup threw the water towards the spark head.

But it didn't get very far.

"Oh come on..." he said.

Angered that this kid could even think he could take them down, the Zippleback spread his wings and lunged forwards making Hiccup trip backwards as he tried to get away.

"HICCUP!" Gobber cried running forwards only to freeze at what he saw when the gas cleared.

The Zippleback was backing away, almost in fear, away from Hiccup.

"Back, back, back," he said stepping forwards and with every step the dragon took a step back, back into his cage.

"Now, don't make me have to tell you again..." Hiccup continued as he was being watched by the class in wonder and the village elder, Gothi.

"Yes that's right. Back into your cage," he said firmly sneakily revealing the eel he had yet to get rid of which was what the Zippleback was truly scared about.

"And think about what you've done..." he said throwing the slimy black and yellow creature into the cage making the Zippleback back as far into the back corner as it could.

Promising that he'll come and retrieve the eel later, Hiccup closed the doors and turned around to see everyone staring at him in shock and awe and wonder, each one asking themselves 'How in the name of Thor did Useless just single-handedly make a Zippleback back away from him as if it were terrified of him?'

"Ok..." Hiccup said smiling. "So are we done? Cause... I've got some things I need to err..." he said trying to think something up.

"Yep I'll... See you tomorrow..." and with that he was off and rushed straight to the forge bringing out his note book and began to get to work...


	8. Nadder Training and Evasive Manouvers

For the rest of the afternoon and night, Hiccup worked on a dragon sized saddle for him to use on Will so he could fly with him.

The next night, after dinner, Hiccup went straight to the forest and waited by the hole.

As before Hiccup tapped his foot to get the Whispering Death's attention, and then stopped tapping his foot and began tapping the saddle, meaning Will paid more attention to that until he got an idea on what it was in his head.

Eventually Hiccup got the saddle onto the big grey snake like dragon and they were flying together over the pond in the cove a bit further on along the path in case they fell, so they wouldn't get hurt too bad.

All seemed to be going well until an unknown sound startled Will making him stop suddenly, throwing Hiccup off and burrowed into the ground.

o0o

The next day, after Training and taking the saddle back for some improvements, and thinking up some ideas, Hiccup came up with the idea of a hook and loop connector which joined to a belt he would wear while flying, and made a full-mask helmet to protect his face if they went underground so nothing got in his eyes or mouth.

Once that was finished they only had the space between sunset and just before dinner to see if the 'improvements' worked.

They were just about to head back to the hole, when Hiccup saw a field of long grass down below and dragons of all kinds rolling around in it big smiles on their faces.

After guiding Will to hand a bit away from the field so not to disturb them, Hiccup took off his helmet and slowly went up to them surprised that they didn't do anything and were still just rolling around trying to get it all over themselves.

Carefully Hiccup picked a few blades and sniffed it to see what was so amazing about it but found nothing. But if these dragons were acting like this it had to of been something good. Picking some more and slowly walking away so not to grab their attention Hiccup went back to Will and they left.

In the arena the next day it was another go with the Gronkle, who was buzzing around and bashing into everyone.

When she saw Hiccup, she accelerated towards him to knock him over as well, but then he held out the grass and looked away.

The Gronkle stopped almost in mid-air when she caught the scent of the grass, her eyes growing wide.

Looking back to see that the grass worked on the Gronkle, Hiccup made it roll over dropping the grass to the ground.

Up around the banisters, Gothi was paying very good attention to Hiccup and the skills he showed.

After the Gronkle was back in its cage, and the class was dismissed, Hiccup rushed out saying he had stuff to do, but was caught by the other teens on the bridge each asking how did he do that.

"Oh... I left my axe back in the ring..." Hiccup said giving a goofy smile and backing away from the others.  
"You... You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you..." he said nearly bashing into Astrid running off towards the ring but then when he was out of sight of the others headed to the cove.

"Hey Will..." he called coming into his friend's tunnels and into the main one where it all began.

"Hey, I thought you could do with a bath today buddy, so just lie down and I'll get started... K? Nothing bad just this..." he said gently stroking the brush over the Whispering Deaths scales, over and over again until he got the feel of it.

Loving the feeling, Will lied as still as he could letting his friend brush him.

Hiccup smiled, slightly amazed that this worked thinking that since the Whispering Death was a Boulder Class dragon it wouldn't like this.

o0o

After a while, Hiccup found a piece of grime and dirt that wouldn't come off. Not wanting to hurt his friend, Hiccup chose to use his fingers to get it off scratching at it with all his might and the next thing he knew Will was knocked out.

Stunned Hiccup looked at his hands in wonder.

Whipping out his note book he quickly noted this down along with the fact about the grass he dubbed 'Dragon Nip'.

After the rest of the scrub down and he had once again changed the bandages letting some now come free, Hiccup stayed the rest of the afternoon in the tunnel, using the time and candle light to think up some more improvements for the saddle.

As the candle was nearing the end of itself, Will began to wake up.

The first thing he did was send out sound waves finding a curled up Hiccup sleeping right next to him, something in his arms, but he didn't care about that.

Getting up, Will stretched a bit before going over to wake the small human to tell him it was time for him to go.

He might not know why Hiccup needed to go or where he went or anything, but Will had learnt that as his tunnels began to get darker, Hiccup had to leave.

"5 more minutes dad..." Hiccup mumbled pushing Will away and turned the other way.

Looking unimpressed, Will got closer and breathed a large cloud of smoke into the boy's face.

"AGGGHHH!" Hiccup screamed jumping up in shock looking around to see what had awoken him expecting to see either the Twins or Snotlout, somehow calming down when he saw it was only Will who was playing with his spines looking to the boy.

"Ugh... What you do that for Will?" he asked getting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

All Will did was look around the cave showing how dark it was getting.

"Oh snap I need to go!" Hiccup said collecting his things screaming a thank you to Will as he left.

The next day in the arena it was the Nadder again.

After Astrid flung her weapon at it but nothing happened the dragon rushed forward to attack, causing the blonde to roll out of the way.

Quickly Hiccup, who had been standing behind Astrid, dropped his mace and held up his hands to show he was defenceless.

Confused, the Nadder stopped right in front of the boy her head slightly turned so she could see him, her nose detecting for some reason two different scents on him.

Suddenly a scream from across the fighting area from Astrid made the Nadder's frills stick up as she looked to her.

Quickly Hiccup began scratching the Nadder's neck and chin trying to find the 'knock-out-spot' finding it just in time before Astrid reached them and hurt this most beautiful creature.

o0o

That night after coming back once again from the tunnel, to again thank Will for showing him these ticks, Hiccup decided to have dinner in the Great Hall.

What he didn't expect was as soon as he sat down, everyone who saw him come rushing over to sit next to him.

The next day Hiccup went into the forest with his tools and flying outfit working to make it better and more resistant to the dirt because it kept managing to find its way in.

Up in the trees there was a Terrible Terror washing herself when she saw something on the ground shining.

Squeaking for joy at it, she jumped out of the tree landed on top of Hiccup and then landed on top of the dot of light.

Trying to work out what just happened, Hiccup looked up and saw the Terror following the dot of light.

Quickly making a note about this in his diary, Hiccup returned to playing 'Hunt-The-Light' with the little dragon, forgetting why he came there enjoying it as much as the dragon, only stopping when a cloud blotted out the sun making the spell shut off and making him look up and saw the sun was too far across the sky.

After a quick goodbye, Hiccup left and put his new, new found dragon tricks to the test for that afternoon's Dragon Training.

o0o

"Meet the Terrible Terror..." Gobber said to the class everyone expecting a dragon with that sort of name to be a huge ferocious beast with razor sharp fangs, sharp claws and...

Not that puny little green thing that came out a cat flap sized door.

"Ha it's like the size of my..." Tuffnut said grinning a mad grin which was cut off when the Terror jumped at him biting its teeth into the boy's big fat nose. "AGHH GET IT OFF!"

Quickly Hiccup used his shield to catch the light and shone it into the small dragon's eye making it release the boy and follow it, blocking everything else out it's only focus that puny speck of light.

"OH I AM HURT," Tuff said holding his nose and getting away from the beast "I AM VERY MUCH HURT!"

Everyone was stunned as they saw Hiccup somehow leading the Terror back to its cage.

"Wow he's better than you ever were," Tuffnut said to Astrid who was the most shock and annoyed that the Useless is beating her at Dragon Training.

***  
(Astrid's POV)

Astrid was in the woods letting her anger out towards Hiccup by imagining all the trees have his stupid face on them and was hurling her axe at them.

After the tenth one she pulled it out did a forward roll to get to the next clump of trees to practice on something different, was about to throw her weapon of choice and...

There was Hiccup... carrying something in his arms and having a 'So busted...' look on his face.

Not saying anything, shocked that Astrid had stopped throwing her axe for a whole ten seconds, Hiccup moved on deeper into the woods leading her away from the tunnel in case she followed him.

(Astrid's POV)

Bringing down her axe confused, Astrid began to follow Hiccup for a bit to try and work out where he was going.

Seeing him go behind a big rock, she went to look over it expecting to see the heir of this stupid island but saw nothing but vegetation.

Fist pumping the boulder, Astrid left.

Just below the top of the boulder Hiccup was as close as he could be flat to it, trying not to show anything.

Waiting ten seconds after she left just to be sure, he stepped out and continued his trek to the tunnel.

o0o

In the tunnel Hiccup had brought his friend another basket of fish to keep him busy while he worked on the bandages and saddle again.

While Will had no idea what he was doing, playing with all this stuff, he said to himself 'As long as I'll get to fly again, and keep getting fish, he can do anything to me...'

Later that evening, Hiccup and Will were in the air again while Hiccup tried to work out if his got the saddle right.

After successfully noting that the 'in the air flying' was alright Hiccup clamped down his helmet and suggested they tried tunnelling.

Nodding in understanding, Will waited for the signal to tell him that the boy was ready and got straight to work when it came.

After five minutes they came back up and Hiccup made to get off the dragon.

"Oh... Great," Hiccup said mockingly tugging at his 'safety-line'.

"Well looks like you'll be seeing where I live tonight then bud..." Hiccup said trying to be fun about it, causing Will to give him a confused look.

"Somehow, maybe by hitting a rock or something, the hook-and-loop-device on my safety harness to be bent too much," he explained "And I can't fix it without my tools. And since I didn't think we would need them today, they're back in the village. Oh... This can go so... wrong if anyone finds us together..." he said, that last part to himself tugging at his hair a bit.

Sensing stress, worry, panic, slight anger, and some other negative emotions from the boy Will butted his nose against Hiccup's arm telling him not to worry.

Nodding, they made it to the village, choosing to go by land with Hiccup leading.

Sneaking in between a couple of houses close to the forest, they took alleyways to keep Will hidden from the night watch men of the village.

"Hiccup," one says nodding was the two were just a short walk away from the forge.

Smiling, Hiccup waved in greetings then as soon as the man left, looked both ways checking the coast was clear, before walking out pulling Will along with him.

Will had never been in a Human village before.

He was amazed by all the new sounds he was hearing, but he tried to pay attention to where Hiccup wanted him to go.

When nothing interesting came to him he turned his head looking for the boy his spines knocking into somethings making a noise, but he wasn't scared because Hiccup was there, and he trusted Hiccup with his life.

"Ok bud," Hiccup whispered turning around with some tools in his hands "Now just hold still and I should be able to sort this out..."

"Hiccup?" Astrid's voice called out getting both boys to look up worried "Are you in there?"

Telling Will not to do anything or make any noise what-so-ever, Hiccup threw on his apron covering up his safety suit and jumped out the window immediately shutting the doors again to keep his dragon a secret.

(Astrid's POV)

Astrid had been heading home from the Hall after dinner, when she heard a noise from the forge, knowing only Gobber or Hiccup is allowed in there - you can't have inexperienced people in a forge when there's a war going on - and that Gobber was back at the Hall, Astrid called out

"Hiccup? Are you in there?"

Before she could open the doors to see, Hiccup came jumping out apron on and trying to be all 'cool'.

"Astrid hey," Hiccup said trying to be calm about this "Hi Astrid, hi Astrid, hi Astrid."

Back in the forge Will was rolling his eyes at the boy's stupidity.

That was no way to talk to a female then again...

"I normally don't care what people do but you're acting wired..." 'Astrid' said, that was no way to speak to anybody either.

But then Will's attention span ended when a 'Baa...' came from outside.

Flying towards it to get to it Will felt Hiccup pull back on the string and tried again.

"Well weirder..." the female said but she was now being ignored but both boys as Will began to go after the sheep, eventually pulling Hiccup through the window.

As soon as Hiccup was through he grabbed the tools, stuffed them into his pockets and jumped onto Wil

Circling around the building while Astrid becomes confused about where Hiccup could have gone, and flew off back to the entrance of the tunnel.

o0o

When they got there the first thing Hiccup said after jumping down was 'I thought I told you not to do anything?' getting a small wine of 'Sorry' from the dragon.

"Meh it's doesn't matter," Hiccup said a bit nicer getting back to fixing his safety line. "I doubt I could have lasted any longer anyway..."

Confused by that meaning, Will tilted his head asking Hiccup what he meant.

"Well... Astrid's the best worrier my age group has to offer," Hiccup began letting his feelings out, beginning to blush a bit. "She's smart, she's pretty, and she has these eyes that just... And her hair... And the way she beats up Snotlout..." he continued sighing finally fixing the line.

"But the thing is I'm just the useless weakling 'Hiccup the Useless'," Hiccup said going off to sit on a rock.

"Before you came along, and yet still, I can't lift a throwing hammer," he said identifying them because you had hammers in blacksmithing and he could lift those, "I can't throw an axe, I couldn't even throw that bola."

Pulling his knees up to his chest Hiccup looked to the stars as he felt Will come sit next to him.

"Sometimes, I just feel that... that I don't belong here..." Hiccup said looking at the many stars there were and thinking where he could possibly belong.

"I'm not sure where I'm meant to be if I'm not, but I just feel... that this isn't it."

Not sure what to do, Will just stayed quiet as he sat next to the boy looking his head turned to stars too, imagining what they looked like.

After a little longer, Hiccup said he needed to head back before they came looking for him.

"I'll be back tomorrow ok?" he asked getting a nod from the Whispering Death and left.

With that Will entered his home and went to sleep, it had been a very big day.


	9. Finally Flying

(Gobber's POV)

The next day, down on the docks, Gobber was making his way to the remains of the only bashed up half destroyed Viking warship that had come back from Stoick's 'Nest-Hunting-Expedition' or as Gobber had worked out pretty early on, 'Getting-Away-From-Hiccup-For-A-Few-Days-Excuse'.

"Well..." he said as the Chief came off the boat an annoyed look on his face "I trust you found the nest at least?"

"Not even close."

"Ah... Excellent," the blacksmith said sarcastically.

"I hope you had a little more success than me," Stoick said giving his friend his bag and heading up the ramps.

"Well if by 'Success' you mean that you're parenting troubles are over with then... yes," Gobber said happily.

Before Stoick could ask his friend what he meant, the villagers who had spotted the boat returning and were coming to help unload it came up to him all cheerful and congratulating him on Hiccup's success.

"Congratulations Stoick," a woman said happily "Everyone is SO relieved."

"Out with the old and in with the new. Right?" a black haired man said coming up next.

"No one will miss that old nuisance."

"The village is throwing a party to celebrate."

With that everyone was gone, off to help the people who went to find the nest get back on their feet.

Quickly Stoick looked to his friend and asked shocked, amazed that he has grown so attached to the boy that's not even his "He's gone?"

"Err... Yeah, Most afternoons," Gobber said continuing to the village. "But really who can blame him? I mean the life of a celebrity is very rough. He can barely go through the village without being swarmed by his new fans."

"Hiccup?" Stoick asked to be sure they were talking about the same person.

"Who would have thought it ay?" Gobber asked grinning a bit "He has this... Way with the beasts..." he said smirking as he saw Stoick's face as they continued to the village.

Earlier that day just as the sun was rising, and since it was cloudy, after Will some baskets of fish (no eels) for breakfast, he and Hiccup spent the rest of the morning in the cove, that was a bit further on into the woods, after changing the bandages around Will's neck again, the other scars were nearly finished healing, and checking and double, and triple checking that everything was alright for when they would be going to try their first real sky high flight later that day.

"Ok bud," Hiccup said after climbing onto his friend's back, and placing his helmet on "You ready?"

Giving a nod Will spread his wings and took off.

Feeling a gentle pat on the right of his head from Hiccup, Will followed the request and went that way.

"Ok it's go time," Hiccup said to himself "It's go time..."

Leaning forward, Hiccup led the two of them to the sea stacks.

"Come on buddy, come on buddy."

As they were going under an arch in the stacks, Will looked up, hearing some sea-birds, which got Hiccup to do so too, and spotted them flying around the roof of it.

"Yes it worked," Hiccup said too joyful to see to be paying attention to what was in front of him, meaning they bashed into a different stack and went right through it.

"Sorry," the boy said after he got a growl from the dragon he was riding, because even though Whispering Deaths did things like this anyway it was still a bit of a shock, as they set off again on a calmer flight.

But that was short lived as they bashed into another stack.

"That's my fault."

Getting annoyed that his boy kept making them crash into rocks Will shook his head violent in annoyance towards the boy.

"Yeah, yeah I'm on it," Hiccup said slightly annoyed regaining focus.

Shifting the tail again Hiccup pulled back getting Will to begin to climb into the sky while staying under the cover of the clouds.

"YEAH!" Hiccup cried "Oh... this is amazing the wind in my... safety-line STOP!" he cried trying to reset it.

But he was already falling by the moment he realized.

Will was getting worried he couldn't feel the boy on his back anymore and he was hearing him screaming for help.

Looking down, he played with his frills to look for the kid and found him falling. Quickly Will dived after him hoping he would get there before the boy hit the ground.

After a few failed attempts, Hiccup managed to get back into the saddle, strap himself in, slid his feet into the stirrups and pulled as hard as he could telling the dragon to pull back which he did just in time, one more second and they would of crashed into a whole forest of trees.

Seeing fog covered stacks up ahead that could not be diverted, Hiccup bit his lip and decided to trust his instincts.

After a few minutes of flying through the fog covered stacks, they were out, free, alive, and in Hiccup's case - curtsy of Will - being burnt to a crisp.

***OOO***

They went back to the cove, picked up the second basket of fish Hiccup 'borrowed' that morning and went to enjoy it at one of the out of sight beaches Berk had to offer.

While the Viking was roasting his fish, he went over what was to happen when the dragon training was over.

His thoughts were lost when he heard Will coughing up something.

Will, sensing Hiccup was worried about something and not eating anything, decided to see if it was because he wasn't having his fish right and coughed up some for him.

"Err... No thanks. I'm good," the boy said holding up his fish.

Suddenly there were screams from Terrible Terrors who had seen all the fish the two of them were having, landing in front of them.

'Get away from our dinner you rats-with-wings,' Will thought his fins going like crazy and curling around his fish a bit more.

Since Will was paying attention to the green and orange one who went for the piece he had just coughed up for Hiccup, he didn't notice the Terror that had snuck under the pile, right under his nose until one fish started to move.

Grabbing it with his teeth right away he started to try and pull and reclaim the fish winning it in the end, making the Terror fall back on his butt.

After eating the fish right before the Terror, Will began to laugh at how this small dragon thought he could outsmart a Whispering Death.

Slowly the Terror narrowed his eyes and began scratching at the ground standing up on his back legs getting ready to blast its fire at Will.

But before he could, Will, after finding the target, shot a small blast into its big mouth causing the fire to back fire and leave the Terror feeling a bit dizzy.

"Huh? Not so fireproof on the inside are you?" Hiccup asked amazed taking his fish off the rod and throwing it to the Terror.

"Here you go."

The Terror gasped for joy tucking into it before anyone could steel it.

After he had downed the fish he turned his attention to the thing that gave it to him and saw it was one of those mean things that live here that are always trying to kill the Dragons... But there was something... Different about him.

With each thought the Terror got closer and eventually decided he liked this thing and curled up beside him to have his after-food-nap.

Slowly placing his hand onto the Terror, Hiccup began to gently rub the small dragon's back.

"Everything we know about you guys..." he said speaking to all Dragons "Is wrong."

***OOO***

Staying there for a bit longer Hiccup and Will, once they had finished their dinner and said goodbye to the Terror, made it back to the hole and from there, Hiccup to the Village leaving Will there again.


	10. Dragon Talk and Secret's Out

Hiccup was in his back room in the forge lying against the desk and rolling his pencil when he heard someone come in.

"Dad you're back!" he says in surprise and shuffling the pictures and notes he had been writing to the side. "Err... Gobber's not here so..."

"I know," Stoick said being as intimidating as he always was. "I've come looking for you. You've been keeping secrets."

"I... I have?" Hiccup asked a scared look on his face, how did his dad find out about Will.

"Just how long did you think you can hide it from me?" Stoick asked.

"I... Don't know wha..." Hiccup said trying to make it realistic but failing.

"Nothing happens on the island without me hearing about it," Stoick said firmly cutting his son off. "So, let's talk. About that dragon."

"Oh gods," Hiccup said sighing "Dad I'm so sorry I... I was going to tell you but..."

He was cut off by Stoick laughing and his intimidating side now gone.

"You're... You're not upset?" Hiccup asked confused.

"What?!" Stoick asked loudly "I was hoping for this!"

"Err... You were?" Hiccup asked confused.

"And believe me it only gets better," Stoick says, beaming at his son "Just wait till you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time."

'Of course,' Hiccup thought sighing and looking away 'He's talking about the Dragon Training'

"And mount your first Gronckle's head on a spear... What a feeling!" he said shoving Hiccup over with a gently shove of appreciation "You really had me going there son. All those years of the worse Viking Berk has ever seen," Stoick continued too caught up in his joy to see that his words were hitting his son harder than his shove.

"Odin. It was rough, I almost gave up on you," Stoick admitted "While all the while you were holding back on me. Oh Thor almighty! Ah... With you doing so well in the ring... We've finally got something to talk about." he said pulling up a stool and coming to an end of his speech a big grin on his face.

But Hiccup didn't know what to say, setting an awkward silence.

"Oh I err... I brought you something," Stoick said bringing a helmet out and fixing the horns "To... To keep you safe. In the ring."

"Wow..." Hiccup said smiling never getting a gift from his dad like this before, or at least not one he remembered, the only one who remembers his birthday is Gobber and he normal just give him some supplies for black-smithing. "Thanks."

"Ah your mother would have wanted you to have it," Stoick said softly building up the moment with love and care. And then that moment ended when he added "It's half of her breast-plate."

At this Hiccup looked up to his dad and quickly lifted his hand off of the helmet.

"Matching set," Stoick said tapping his own helmet "Keeps her... Keeps her close you know? Wear it proudly. You diverse it. You held up your end of the deal."

Not knowing what to say, Hiccup set down the helmet and gave a fake yawn.

"I should really get to bed..." he said.

"Yes good," Stoick agreed

"Good talk, I'll see you at the house," "Yeah, yeah I'll... I'll see you back at the house. Thanks for stopping by," "I'm glad I stopped by. And I hope you like the..." "The breast hat." "The hat."

"Well um..." Stoick said clapping his hand and taking a breath "Good night."

Inside the arena the wooden hurdles were up scattered all around the ring and Astrid and Hiccup were told to walk to the centre and wait for the dragon.

"This test, between Astrid Hofferson, and Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III," Stoick's voice boomed out to the crowd as the gate crashed shut and cheers began "Is to determine which young warrior will be chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare tomorrow. Good luck and may the luck of Thor be with you." he spoke to the teenagers.

With that the door to the Gronckle's cage opened and it came flying out looking for what was disturbing her nap.

Right away Hiccup rushed to hide behind one of the hurdles and was joined by Astrid who took his axe and sternly looked him in the eye.

"Stay out of my way. I'm winning this thing," with that and a forward roll she went to another hurdle.

"Please," Hiccup said giving her room "By all means..." sighing Hiccup stood up and turned to look at his dad. At how proud he was at him...

The him that was not him, but the him Stoick wanted him to be.

As he was thinking this over sighing to himself Hiccup was not paying attention to the Gronkle who had spotted him and began flying over.

o0o

After Astrid told Hiccup to stay out of her way, she went off to hide behind another hurdle and then another, gripping her axe tightly.

"This time," She said determined "This time for sure..."

Getting up Astrid began running forward, yelling a battle cry, her axe ready to fire if need be, jumping over the hurdles when needed, was just coming up to the beast when...

She saw it was already down in front of Hiccup.

"NO!" she screamed swinging her axe "SON-OF-A-HALF-TROLL-RAT-EATING..."

As Hiccup watched Astrid swear at how she lost to the runt of the village, all he could do is look to the dragon before him, and listen to everyone's cheers.

"Wait..." Stoick called out "Wait..."

"So later..." Hiccup said as he began to leave.

"Uh oh, not so fast," Gobber said hooking Hiccup back to the centre of the ring, the dragon being taken back to its cage.

"Well I'm... err... kinda late for..." Hiccup said trying to think up an excuse.

"WHAT?!" Astrid asked holding her axe up to the boys chin. "Late for what exactly?"

"Ok quiet down," Stoick told the crowd "The elder has decided."

In the ring the teenagers turned to Gothi, Hiccup rubbing his neck and looking worried, Astrid looking firm and determined, Gobber coming up behind them first pointing to Astrid.

Slowly Gothi shook her head, earning many gasps from the crowd as they realized what that meant.

Slowly Gobber pointed to Hiccup with a 'Are you sure?' look on his face.

This getting a nod and a smile from the elder, and cheers from everyone else.

"Oh you've done it," Gobber said to Hiccup smiling "You've done it Hiccup, you get to kill the dragon."

Trying to cheer with everyone else Hiccup didn't pay attention when the rest of the class came in and Fishlegs lifted him on to his shoulder, or when his dad said proudly "That's my boy" or when Astrid walked off in a huff.

"Oh yeah..." Hiccup said drearily "I can't wait. I am so...

o0o

"Leaving!" Hiccup called out as he got closer To Will's hole with a basket on his back and his riding helmet in his hand.

"We're leaving! Let's pack up. Looks like you and I are taking a little vacation... Forever."

After thinking that that would be enough to bring Will up out of the ground, Hiccup set the basket down to once again check he had everything.

Standing up when he heard the sound of footsteps and looked up to see Astrid sharpening her axe sitting on the boulder behind him.

"Wha?" he said jumping back "What the? Uh... uh... What are you doing here?" he asked looking around causally pretending to talk about the forest but was really looking for Will.

"I wanna know what's going on," Astrid said dropping the stone and getting down "No one just gets as good as you do. Especially you. Start talking."

o0o

Over by his hole, Will was staying in the shadows, spines moving at different rates trying to work out what was happening his teeth ready to come out, and ready to rip that second human to pieces if she does anything to hurt his human.

o0o

"Are you training with someone?" Astrid questioned ignoring 'The Whisper' thinking it was just the noises of the forest.

"Training?"

"It better not involve this..." she continued grabbing hold of Hiccup's flight suit.

"I know this looks really bad... You see there's this uh..." he said trying to get away from her.

Will moved forward slightly just so he could hear the two of them better a noise that caught Astrid's attention and she dropped Hiccup making him fall to the ground and began to walk over to it.

"Err... You're right, you're right," Hiccup said trying to get her attention again "I... I'm through with the lies. I... I've been making... Outfits," he said, this getting Will to roll his eyes at the excuse.

"So you got me," Hiccup said making sure he was blocking her view of the cave and his friend.

"It's time everyone knew. Drag me back go ahead. Here we go..."

While he was rambling on Astrid grabbed his hand and bent it back, with no care in her eyes when he said "Ow... Why would you do that?"

Then standing over him she said "That's for the lies. And that's..." she said dropping her axe's end on him so it bounced back up "For everything else."

Ok now she was on thin ice... Will thought as he made himself known to the girl. He may not be able to see, but he can her when his best friend is hurt. The next thing she did that would hurt Hiccup...

"Get down!" she said grabbing him and flooring the both of them.

'OK that's it!' Will thought as he came charging towards the girl.

"Run, run..." Astrid said as she got back up and readied her axe, only to be pushed back down by Hiccup and her axe pushed out of her reach.

"No, no," he said getting in between the two of them, tapping his foot like always "It's ok, it's ok... She's a friend..."

At that Will calmed down a bit, but was still ready to attack if need be.

"You scared him," Hiccup said placing a hand onto Will's nose and trying to hold him back.

"I scared him?!" Astrid asked loudly then seeing what was there asked. "Who... is him..?"

"Err... Astrid, Will," Hiccup said smiling while keeping his foot tapping "Will, Astrid."

All Astrid did was shake her head and began to turn and run back to the village to tell everyone that Hiccup's turned against them.

"Duh, duh, duh. We're dead," Hiccup said in a slightly uncaring voice.

Will just turned around and flew over to the basket.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," Hiccup said turning to the dragon "Where do you think you're going?"

Will was nudging the basket and then stretching his wings to say he was ready.

"We can't now bud we need to go after her and stop her from telling everyone what she saw..."

Not understanding why, but getting the feeling of worry from his human, Will gave a big sigh and came back over.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup said as he climbed on, putting his helmet on, just in case and they took off to hunt down Astrid.


	11. The Explanation and Flight

As Astrid ran through the forest, eager to get away from the traitor of Berk, she looked back to see if she was being followed, then jumped over a fallen tree, only to be picked up by Will. One of his massive head spikes had slid under the girl's arm, and she gripped tight, as the dragon rose up again.

"Aahhh! Great Odin's Ghost! Oh, this is..." She didn't get much further, but instead, started screaming again, gripping whatever she could to prevent herself from falling from the grip of the dragon. The Whispering Death then spiralled towards his tunnels, dropping the girl in one of the deeper parts, then flying in, blocking off any other routes out of his home.

"Hiccup! Get me out of here!" Astrid shouted, glaring at Hiccup past the defensive dragon.

"You have to give me a chance to explain..." Hiccup began, but was interrupted by Astrid.

"I am not listening to anything you have to say!" she screamed while trying to get out of the hole, failing every time.

"Then I won't speak, just let me show you... please Astrid." Hiccup sighed quietly asking himself why he was even trying.

"Fine," the young female Viking said looking around, after stopping her attempt to get out of the hole. "Now what?"

Hiccup smiled from behind his friend. "We wait till dusk. Then Will can leave."

When it was dusk, Hiccup climbed into the saddle, putting his hand out for Astrid to grab.

She swatted his hand aside, and grabbed onto the saddle, hoisting herself up after Will growled deeply at her.

"Now get me out of here." Hiccup faced the front.

"Will, out. Gently," the Whispering Death opened his wings, and hovered out of the dark tunnels, cooing in delight at the evening wind "See, nothing to be afraid of..." Hiccup said trying to comfort Astrid, not noticing Will grumbling and spreading his wings as far as they would go.

Like a rocket he took off into the sky.

"Woah! Will! What is wrong with you? Bad dragon!" Hiccup said to his friend, but he didn't listen.

All the time, Astrid was screaming, and trying to stay on the saddle.

"He's uh, not usually like this," Hiccup chuckled nervously "Oh no..." Hiccup finished, as Will folded his wings, and plummeted down to the ocean. Dipping his spiral body into the ocean, getting everybody wet, was the first part of the punishment he would be giving the girl.

"Will! What are you doing? We need her to like us!" Hiccup shouted, not getting a response from the dragon. Will shot into the air, and started spinning, emitting yet another scream from Astrid.

"And now the spinning... thank you for nothing, you useless reptile." Hiccup sarcastically commented, as Will dove down towards the ocean again.

"Ok! I'm sorry... I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing." Will looked back at Astrid the best he could, and believed her, straightening out, and getting a small squeal from her.

Settling down completely, Will and Hiccup took Astrid for a calm flight up into the clouds. Astrid was gripping Hiccup tightly, but opened her eyes at the sight before her.

Fluffy pinkish clouds floated all around them, and Astrid had the courage to take one hand off the dragon rider, and sweep her hand through the clouds. As she enjoyed it more, she took the other hand off, and started sweeping both hands through the clouds.

Doing a slow turn, Will took the duo above the clouds, now showing it was night-time. Astrid placed her hands on Hiccup's waist, as she watched the Aurora Lights. From above the clouds, when they came to a bit of a clearing, they saw Berk, and Astrid's eyes widened in amazement.

Will could sense the girl's happiness, and grinned in his own special way. Astrid wrapped her arms around Hiccup's waist, and rested her chin on his shoulder. Soaring around the large statues surrounding Berk, and up a bit towards the clouds again, Astrid looked around again before commenting, "Alright. I admit it. This is pretty cool. It's amazing. He's amazing." She finished, petting Will's side, being careful of the spikes.


	12. The Dragon

As they were flying, nobody noticed they were flying towards a fog cloud. "So what now? Hiccup sighed. "Hiccup! Your final exam is tomorrow. You know ya gonna have ta kill a... kill a dragon." She finished, whispering so the dragon underneath her wouldn't hear. The Whispering Death's eyes darkened just ever so slightly, the spiral dragon falling under a spell. "Don't remind me." Hiccup responded. Will suddenly lurched downwards, both Hiccup and Astrid emitting a squeal. "Will, what's happening?" Hiccup asked the non-responsive dragon. "Woah, what is it?" He asked again, Will swerving left and right to avoid something in the fog. He roared, as a Monstrous Nightmare appeared from the fog. "Get down!" Hiccup hissed quietly, Astrid following his instructions. Will almost ran into yet another dragon, but as the fog cleared, the trio found themselves surrounded by dragons. "What's going on?" Asked Astrid, gripping Hiccup tightly. "I don't know." Hiccup responded. "Will, you gotta get us out of here bud." As he finished the sentence with his hand on Will's head, the large dragon shook his head, and growled. "It looks like their hauling in their kill." Observed Hiccup. "Uh, what does that make us?" Astrid queried. Looking to their left, they saw a medium red colored Hideous Zippleback, and it noticed them, and grumbled. Following suit from the other dragons, the Whispering Death flew downwards, Hiccup and Astrid letting out a bit of a scream. Dodging left and right around multiple large columns of rock, they came into view of a enormous volcano. Still following the controlled reptiles, Will dove into a large tunnel, turning different directions, getting them into the heart of the mountain. All the dragons were dropping their catch into a large area of red fog. Looking around, Hiccup talked again. "What my dad wouldn't give to find this." Will suddenly veered off, behind a rock formation and kept watching, the two teenagers on his back. "Oh, it's satisfying to know that all of our food is being dumped down a hole." "They're not eating any of it..." Astrid observed. A grumble from a Gronckle drew their attention. This Gronckle had nothing in it's claws, but hovering over the fog, opened it's mouth and dropped a very tiny fish. Scratching it's head with a hind leg, it heard a growl, and started to head off. Then, out of nowhere, a large head came up through the fog, and swallowed the Gronckle whole. Astrid gasped. "What is that?" Whatever it was, it made all the dragons back away, into their little areas. The head went back down, but came back up again when it smelt something off in it's nest. Hiccup leaned forwards to his dragons head. "Alright bud. We gotta get out of here... now!" The Whispering Death bolted from his hiding place, just as the massive head chomped down on where they just where. That caused all the dragons to fly out of the nest. This thing was angry, and started following the trio. Just as they were about to be eaten, a Hideous Zippleback flew in the way and got eaten instead and the beast descended again with it's meal. Hiccup, Astrid, and Will flew back to the cove, under the cover of darkness and landed.


	13. Being Away (NOT A CHAPTER)

Hey everybody.

Sorry about the major delay. I've lost interest in this story and can't continue right now... My co-writer, Grey21booster, (who is my boyfriend in real life), and I have been continuing the story through texting.

Life has been hard... I was at school when I started the story, but I had a school laptop, which I had to hand back...

So, for now this story is going on Hiatus...

Thanks for being patient!  
Dingo out! 


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